As a wakeboarder you condition yourself not to let go of the handle early because nothing sucks more than riding away without the handle because you didn't believe you would land with your board under you. I remember one weekend my boat driver bitching at me for letting go; "loose the rope, loose the comp".

Well, one thing does suck worse. The pain in your shoulder when you didn't let go at the cable park while trying to learn load/release tricks in the flats. I dug in so hard that my board almost got ripped off my feet. I didn't commit to the flick and all the line tension wemt into my shoulder... doh.

If you absolutely know you're going to fall drop it. The falls are so much better. Otherwise just use your best judgment. The more you ride the better your judgement will get. If you start landing a trick then dropping the handle that's when you know for sure you should of held on.

I usually tell people from my own experience to not let go until you are in the water. There have been so many times that I rode away something I didn't think I would land. After that I just held on until the handle ripped out of my hand. If things are going wrong before you get there I would drop it too.

I'm normally fairly good about letting go on time behind the boat, but for some reason, I tend to latch on for too long at the cable parks. Primarily with my right hand...II'll probably be heading to a doctor Monday as my mobility is still limited without pain. I was able to keep riding for a couple more hours, but on the drive from from Grand Rapids to Elkhart, it started to hurt to drive with my right arm.

I stopped letting go of the handle and started trying to "muscle" through sketchy landings. It's been about 40/60 between the glory (riding away) and pain (wishing you would have thrown the handle.) I have had some amazing diggers this year, and rode away from some awesome tricks as well. Toe scorps suck but stomping tricks is worth it.

I used to live by that motto, then 2 summers ago on a stupid tumble turn I tried to hold on when I should have let go. Tore my rotator cuff, labrum and capsule, shredded cartilage, and broke my scapula bone. The crappy thing is I knew when the trick went wrong, and knew when I should have let go, and held on out of frustration. I am not quite as anxious to hold on to the bitter end now.

similar story here. Spent 6 hours with my shoulder joint wedged in a place it really shouldn't be. Now have permanent nerve damage, feels like I'm wearing a rubber glove all the time and live with pain every day............ all because I held on.